If the Shoe Fits …
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
“In Her Shoes” contains all the integral components of a chick flick: shoe porn, emotional blackmail, and Shirley MacLaine. What more could you want?
Director Curtis Hanson’s touching film reinterprets the sisterly bond as a romantic comedy, tracking two girls who learn that they need and want each other in adulthood. Their relationship is at times unconvincing, but the emotions it plays upon are within reach for any woman who has ever ruined the belongings of a sister (guilty), or had that burden inflicted on her (really, I’m sorry).
As in any good film romance, the girls have a budding relationship, a misunderstanding (infidelity) that leads to a temporary breakup, and a reconciliation ending in marriage (to someone else). As the older, dependable intellectual Rose, Toni Collette is both endearing and sexy, despite being put through the indignity of having to gain weight for the role. Cameron Diaz, as the younger, slightly crazed Maggie, is charming enough aside from a few scenes in which she has to play drunk – but this is a film about body image, and Ms. Diaz’s body specifically. The woman is rarely permitted to wear pants, and her posterior seems to have a magnetic pull on the camera lens. She has a great ass – and its leading role is, I suppose, a nod to all the men who will be guilted into the theater with their girlfriends.
It is a nice gesture, as discussions of self-esteem, weight issues, and generally girlie subjects occupy much of the film. Maggie and Rose are inverse replicas of each other – one depends on her body but is afraid her brain is lacking, the other is confident in her mental prowess but sure her body is the cause of her sorrow. Before they can appreciate one another, they must accept themselves. And the path they choose is full of screaming, stolen shoes, illicit sex, and untold crying jags.
Having lost their mother at a young age, the girls do not have an adviser in this process (their father has married a wretch of a woman and virtually disappeared) until they discover they have a grandmother in Florida.
Ella (Shirley MacLaine) disappeared from their lives for insubstantial reasons years before, and flits back into their lives just as easily. In the process of getting to know their grandmother and the charming retirees in her community for “active seniors,” the sisters heal old wounds, discover themselves – Rose decides she’s ready to get married, Maggie learns to read poetry – and realize they need each other.
The sunny climate of Florida brings a bright, civilizing force to the film. The cinematography and wardrobe suddenly lighten as things start to settle into their proper place. Ms. MacLaine brings a sharp and surprisingly understated performance to the role of Ella. Acquiescing where she often grandstands, it is almost plausible that she would have such a charming influence on these girls. The supporting retirees bring just the right balance of homespun wisdom and charm to their retirement community. And they all come back to Philadelphia to celebrate the perfectly quirky nuptials of Rose and her charmed beau.
All this seemed a little too convenient to be realistic in Jennifer Weiner’s cute and quick novel of the same name, but one benefit of adapting chick lit for the screen is that there’s always room for improvement. Susannah Grant’s smart script turns up the charm while glossing over some of the novel’s more obvious points, and Mr. Hanson has gotten enough right to overlook the plot’s facile resolution. Rose and Maggie are not standout characters so much as stand-ins for all the sisters who will impose their own feelings on the situations depicted here. And that is the success of this film – women in the audience will relate to so much that they see on screen.
Most women have sisters, after all. If not, they have grandmothers. And, if all else fails, they love pretty shoes.